For years, life science companies have made their home in metro areas like Boston and the Bay Area. But Mark Hefner, CEO and shareholder of MGO Realty Advisors, says that is changing.

"Major metropolitan cities like Boston, San Francisco, Seattle and San Diego that have been long-established life science hubs are expensive to operate in," Hefner says. "Everything from real estate to cost of living in these cities is expensive. Now, with the Covid-19 crisis, companies are facing tremendous budget constraints and increasing pressures on their bottom line, forcing them to reconsider where they are located." 

Hefner says employees are moving away from these cities to take advantage of telework policies implemented during the pandemic. "This has created the perfect storm for life sciences companies to re-evaluate their real estate footprint and look at tier two cities that have some of the factors essential to their success in a market," he says.